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Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Squirrel's Nut Cache - 6/25/09

The Nut Cache - a collection of recent things I found interesting, or amusing, or nutworthy.

Marmots are squirrels. They're ground squirrels, and they don't have much in the way of tails. but, still, they're squirrels. So I've got to stick up for this guy! Did anybody consider that he just wanted to order some breakfast? I mean, I'm a foodie, why not him? Poor guy, if they'd have just handed him a menu, instead of running him out the door, everything would have been fine.

Staying with rodents, but Going from the desirable to the undesirable, I now take you to Rat Island, Alaska. It seems that a Japanese shipwreck 229 years ago dumped rats onto the island, and that they've pretty much run things there ever since. But it seems that a rat eradication program is working. If it works, maybe they could try Manhattan next... or, better yet, Congress.

Quite often, we read stories that tell us of terrible abuses by child protection services, where government employees step all over the rights of parents. This is not one of those cases. In fact, to the Human Services workers in Fort Smith, Arkansas, I'd like to say, "Good call."

In an animal-dominated Nut Cache, here's another. We've all wondered about crop circles. UFO nuts have always blamed ET, while skeptics have pointed to hoaxes. But nobody ever suspected the truth! Yep, it's drugged-up wallabies! Of course, a lot of crop circles show up in the UK, and wallabies are in Australia... Maybe aliens take them to England?

This ones a heart-warmer/tear-jerker... I'll wait for you to get your tissues. Ready? OK. Vince Werner flew 42 missions on B-17's during World War II. Last Saturday was Vince's 65th wedding anniversary, then, on Monday, he got to fly around Missoula in a restored B-17. The restored bomber is named “Sentimental Journey,” but I noticed that the article didn't give Mrs. Werner's name...

UPDATE: Mrs. Werner's name is June. She and Vince were married in August of 1944. Their son, Greg, posted a comment in the meta here (with pictures!) Here are the pictures:

Then

Now

Very Squirrely congratulations to Vince and June! And a heartfelt, but wholly inadequate, "Thank You" to Vince Werner, and all of his brothers- and sisters-in-arms, for their service in defense of our nation.

Sluggy Freelance

WARNING: Sluggy Freelance is a quirky, offbeat, secular comic strip for grown-ups. It is not an "adult" cartoon, but it is PG-13, and not for children. I think it's funny, and that's probably a sign of my own depravity. Yes, the bunny is cute, but he's homicidal, OK?